They’ve made Coffee Sangrias a brunch staple for the capital. Their Greater Than gin is set to takeover the Gin & Tonics far and wide. Then, it’s no surprise that the hidden-till-date outing by the ace gents of Perch Wine & Coffee Bar (#DSSCPowerPackers 2016 Winner, Bar of the Year) is already creating a dent in India’s F&B space. Say hello to the Bar-Back Collective, the brainchild of Vaibhav Singh (#DSSCPowerPackers 2016 Awardee, Men’s Edition), Anand Virmani, Arijit Bose (#DSSCPowerPackers 2016 Awardee, Men’s Edition), and Pankaj Balachandran. The four men have once again come together to create a stellar property, channeling yet another wave of change in the F&B industry. We at DSSC decided to dig deeper and got talking with Pankaj Balachandran on this new slow-roast revolution.
“We wanted to create a collective which develops the F&B industry in totality. A one-stop-shop where we setup everything for you, handover the finished product, and move out. From creating restaurant/bar concepts to improving the current beverage programmes, it caters to different levels of the industry,” says Pankaj of the genesis of Bar-Back Collective. A shared drive to improve the country’s beverage culture and put Indian bars on The World’s 50 Best list brought the four gents together to spearhead this venture in April 2016. “F&B really needs to up its game in our country. We’re doing good because we’re opening more and more restaurants – but it’s typically one format which gets popular and then replicated across the country – we are not focussing on quality,” he adds. With a vision to turnaround the industry and develop experiences rather than simply physical spaces to meet, greet, and eat, the Collective helps build properties through an array of segments – Drink Experiences & Events, Restaurant/Bar Turnkey Projects, Wine & Beverage Training Programs, Cocktail Programs & Beverage Consultation, Brand Advocacy and Marketing. “Vaibhav with so many good concepts in his mind, Arijit’s experiences from across the world and the curator of drinks’ programmes, and Anand, who undertakes brand management; we knew we wanted to do something together to help the industry improve,” shares the ex-Taj sommelier. With Anand advocating Glenfiddich in India, and Pankaj behind increasing the base for Diplomático, it goes without saying that the men are more than equipped to bring about the change they envision.
Pankaj Balachandran
Speaking of enthusing the landscape with fresh concepts, we ask how consumer demand impacts the industry’s drive or lack of innovation, “It’s all about consumer education. The industry is about 5 to 10 years behind, because we didn’t educate the consumers in the right manner. We introduced the flaming shots & quirky cocktails, but we got stuck on this one thing, and failed to expose them to further innovations,” Balachandran opines. However, he is quick to add that, “The bartending community has really grown. A lot of people now travel often, and come back to demand drinks which they sipped internationally. Initially a bartender will say ‘no’, but will go back and invest his time and money in learning how to make the drink.” Nudging the industry towards innovation, Bar-Back Collective believes in being involved in the end-to-end process of establishing a place, “We set up a restaurant from conceptualisation to opening. So everything from the concept, creating mood boards and designing the space and furniture, the beverage program, giving direction for the food menu, and giving it to them in a way that they can start operations.” It doesn’t end there, the men also conduct onsite training programmes where skill-set and knowledge are the essentials they aim to impart to the service staff. Keeping with that rule, the Collective has helped setup innovative spaces such as the Sly Granny (Bangalore), Upstairs Club (Chandigarh), and also conducted workshops at Taj Falaknuma (Hyderabad) and the Taj Mahal Palace (Mumbai).
While it’s the four gents for now, they’re looking to expand the collective soon, adding more game-changing names to their roster. “The team has to be so strong that whenever you think of food and beverage, it has to be Bar-Back Collective. It’s not about making money, it’s about creating a community,” as Pankaj says. Chatting about expansion plans, Pankaj spills the beans on a brick & mortar space in the offing, “We’d like to create a studio where we can conduct master classes, training sessions, and so on.” As he shares that the studio may see the light of the day within two years, we ask about the vision for Bar-Back vis-a-vis the F&B circuit in the coming years, “The goal is to improve the entire F&B space – from introducing the finest spirits to the country, establishing boutique brands & helping them thrive, train the servicemen, hoteliers, and even students. That’s the way forward for us – to upgrade the industry one way or the other.” If that isn’t promising enough, the star anise in our tipple is that the capital may also see a bar by the Bar-Back Collective in the coming three years.
“If you want to create an establishment which will make noise internationally, then you come to us. We’re eager to build properties that create a mark in the industry,” the man signs off.
